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This was was one of the pivotal events of the Polish-Russian War of 1605-18. The St Sergius-Holy Trinity Lavra was besieged by the Polish invaders for 16 months, from September 1609 to January 1611. Interesting… the Wikipedia article on the war doesn’t even mention it, for it was a Russian victory, and the use of Polish sources exclusively with none of the rich Russian sources available tells one that the article is worthless Polish propaganda. The monks aided in the defence for a very simple reason. The Poles intended to destroy Orthodoxy and ram Roman Catholicism down the throats of all Russians through the agency of the hated Unia. Indeed, the Poles murdered Patriarch Germogen of Moscow by starving him to death; a cruel, barbaric, and inhumane way of killing someone, I’d say. Today, Patriarch St Germogen is considered a great martyr of the Russian Orthodox Church. In short, it wasn’t only a war for national survival, it was a war to preserve the Orthodox Faith.

Russia has never forgotten these events. During tsarist times, and now, again, after the fall of the commissars, 4 November is celebrated as the Day of National Unity. It’s the day the Polish invaders were forced to leave Moscow. The bravery of the monks of the St Sergius-Holy Trinity Lavra was a great contribution to the victory. If you hear Polish condemnations of Russia today, and they’re frequent, let me assure you, just remember that the Poles started the dispute. They attempted to destroy the Russian people and destroy our Orthodox Faith. Poland isn’t innocent. Neither are we either, but, at least we admit it! So, if you hear a Pole expatiating at the UN, the EU, or NATO, attacking Russia, remember what they tried to do to us. Such hypocrisy has rarely been seen under God’s heaven, I’m afraid. We stood for Holy Russia and for Holy Orthodoxy, and God gave us the victory.